Dick Vitale, 84, Speaks for First Time in 7 Months Due to Vocal Cord Cancer

Dick Vitale is expected to be back calling college basketball games in November.

By Brian Jones

Dick Vitale is making progress when it comes to his health. Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times shared a video of Vitale revealing that he is speaking for the first time in seven months due to his vocal cord cancer diagnosis. The 84-year-old college basketball analyst also said he's ready to return to the broadcast booth on Nov. 28 when Miami takes on Kentucky. 

"This is the first time I've been able to speak," Vitale said in the video posted on Monday. "I'm gonna do it in moderation for the next couple weeks. ..."I'm emotional. I'm excited. I didn't speak, you gotta understand, for seven months. You're the first people hearing my voice in a long, long time."

When Vitale finished speaking, Dr. Steven Zeitels, the Director of the Center for Laryngeal Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, began talking about Vitale's progress. "At this point, he can start using his voice," he explained. "He'll see how long it takes to recover. We had planned to look under the microscope in the operating room [Tuesday], but it looks so terrific that we are going to wait on that because I see no evidence of the cancer whatsoever."

In July, Vitale announced he had been diagnosed with vocal cord cancer. The news came after he previously revealed his lymphoma diagnosis and received treatment for melanoma in 2021. At the time, Vitale was told to go three months without talking to save his vocal cords and prevent the growths from getting bigger.

Vitale has been with ESPN since 1979 shortly after the network's launch. He called ESPN's first-ever major NCAA basketball game — Wisconsin at DePaul on Dec. 5, 1979, and has since called over a thousand games. Vitale's success as a broadcaster led to him being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. 

"I'm living the American dream," Vitale once said. "I learned from my mom and dad, who didn't have a formal education, but had doctorates of love. They told me that if you gave 110 percent all the time, a lot of beautiful things will happen. I may not always be right, but no one can ever accuse me of not having a genuine love and passion for whatever I do. And ESPN has been grateful enough to recognize this."   

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